Why are virtually all European cars such low quality garbage?

[Bereta_Eder]

I used to wonder why are american cars so big. It seemed completely stupid and counterintuitive.
But it is because of big roads, lack of infastructure for mass transit and generally OPEN SPACES (which is great)

[Dinner]

Plus bigger families who need to travel further distances and they want to do so in comfort with all their stuff.

[Jon Miller]

I use to love some cars. The smaller the better. I have wanted to get a Mini Cooper since they first came out.

Almost two years ago we bought a Corolla Hybrid. My family has 4, 2 little kids and my wife and I. The car is small for camping trips, trips to see grandma in the car (one state away, although we will often fly), and even largish Costco trips. Our next car (our second, we only have one right now) will probably be the Cybertruck and if it isn't it will be a different truck or SUV. Something large.

JM

[Dauphin]

Absolutely. Everyone knows Audi is in bed with VW, and what about all of those GM brands?

Well, yeah, VW own Audi. They also own Skoda, Seat, Porsche, Bugatti, Bentley, Lamborghini and a few others.

And I assume he meant complexity.

[dannubis]

Truly happy with my VOLVO over the sucky FORD I had and got rid of.

[Bereta_Eder]

Audi is the more "high end" brand of VW. Always was. The other automakers were acquisitions of VW.
VW cars used to be great. Reliable. Now they have done something wrong in the design and are avoided.

French cars some say they have style (I don't think that's true) but they break down easily and parts are expensive.

Up to some years ago german cars were supposed to not be stylish (Correct IMO) and have expensive parts BUT didn't break down often. They had a very good name.

Japanese cars are considered the best. Toyota. I hate their style. Like a bug with bug eyes. But they never break down.

Italian cars are my love. Very stylish IMO. They do have the reputation of breaking down more easily but the parts are cheap. Plus after some time, most automakers have exceeded a certain level of endurness anyway.

Americans cars do not exist despite the occasional ford. Actually now that I think about it Ford does have some share of the market. Not a lot. I would never get an american car in europe though. Different mentalities, needs and realities. I would never get a french either for other reasons.

My line is italian - japanese - german. That's it

Edit: I just realized I picked the WW2 axis.

[EPW]

The Smart car is the best European built car. Cute but embarrassing.

[Bereta_Eder]

The best european cars, which are also the world's best cars, are ferrari, porche and the like.

Smart is a money grab IMO

[Dauphin]

Audi is the more "high end" brand of VW. Always was. The other automakers were acquisitions of VW.
VW cars used to be great. Reliable. Now they have done something wrong in the design and are avoided.

French cars some say they have style (I don't think that's true) but they break down easily and parts are expensive.

Up to some years ago german cars were supposed to not be stylish (Correct IMO) and have expensive parts BUT didn't break down often. They had a very good name.

Japanese cars are considered the best. Toyota. I hate their style. Like a bug with bug eyes. But they never break down.

Italian cars are my love. Very stylish IMO. They do have the reputation of breaking down more easily but the parts are cheap. Plus after some time, most automakers have exceeded a certain level of endurness anyway.

Americans cars do not exist despite the occasional ford. Actually now that I think about it Ford does have some share of the market. Not a lot. I would never get an american car in europe though. Different mentalities, needs and realities. I would never get a french either for other reasons.

My line is italian - japanese - german. That's it

Edit: I just realized I picked the WW2 axis.

https://www.businessinsider.com/why-...trucks-2015-10

Toyota trucks are popular with terrorists — here's why

[....]

They bought an 18-year-old Hilux diesel with 190,000 miles on the odometer for $1,500," Somaiya wrote for Newsweek. "They then crashed it into a tree, submerged it in the ocean for five hours, dropped it from about 10 feet, tried to crush it under an RV, drove it through a portable building, hit it with a wrecking ball, and set it on fire. Finally, they placed it on top of a 240-foot tower block that was then destroyed in a controlled demolition. When they dug it out of the rubble, all it took to get it running again was hammers, wrenches, and WD-40. They didn't even need spare parts."

The truck is so popular with militants that it has been closely associated with them for decades.

"Anecdotally, a scan of pictures from the last four decades of guerrilla and insurgent warfare around the world — the first iteration of the Hilux appeared in the late '60s — reveals the Toyota's wide-ranging influence," Somaiya wrote for Newsweek.

[BeBMan]

So Toyota is the Kalashnikov of cars...

[N35t0r]

Plus bigger families who need to travel further distances and they want to do so in comfort with all their stuff.

I could fit more in the trunk of my honda fit than in a chevy prisma (I think it's the sedan version of the Onyx in the US), even though it's half a meter shorter and 30cm narrower. Plus, very spaceous rear seats. I will miss it.

I've now bought a used VW golf variant, as a stopgap for an EV in ~3 years or so. German-built. I would have bought a Skoda, but the available used Octavias were outside my km / age range.

[Dinner]

I have never heard of the Onyx in the US. If it is a small car then it was probably designed by GM Daewoo in Korea or if it is an older small car than it was probably designed by Opel/Vauxhall before that money losing division got sold off.

[N35t0r]

It seems to be a Latin American design, produced in Brazil.

Slightly smaller than a Cruze i think.

[Dinner]

Wiki says the platform is the GM "Global Emerging Markets" (GEM) PLATFORM designed for emerging markets where cars that meet the US or EU regulations are just to expensive. Yet despite the name it only seems to be built in Brazil, China, and Mexico. You'd figure they'd also make it in Africa or Russia or India but they do not. I do know GM withdrew from several foreign markets where it was loosing money so maybe that is why?

[N35t0r]

I guess it can also be due to particularities of each market. GM cars [s]over here[/s] in Argentina (and Fords as well) have tended to become bigger and bigger with the decades, which might not be desirable in Africa/Russia?

In any case, most GM and Ford cars in Argentina (except those imported from Mexico or the specialty ones like the new Camaro (maybe)) are crap quality. The only upside is that spares are cheap, although for that you also have Fiat.